'Walkability' expert cites progress in Sarasota

Jeff Speck brings his book "Walkable Cities" and revisits the community

By JESSIE VAN BERKEL

If this city had a collective book club, this month's pick would be “Walkable Cities.”

More than a decade after Sarasota embarked on its Downtown Master Plan 2020 — meant to make the city's core more connected and pedestrian-friendly — Jeff Speck, who helped work behind-the-scenes on the plan, is revisiting the city.

Speck, the author of “Walkable Cities,” spoke at several public events in Sarasota over the past couple days during a book-tour-meets-city-analysis visit.

After walking around town and meeting with city staff, Speck said he was disappointed.

“I hate coming to a city and saying, ‘Oh, darn. It looks good,' ” he said, adding that there is “not an obvious reason to bring me back.”

The urban planner said the master plan primarily prepared by New Urbanist Andres Duany has had a “profound impact” on the city.

Ken Shelin, who was on the city commission when Duany worked on the plan, said its impact is evident in the retail and number of people out on Main Street — where you once could “fire a cannon” without hitting anyone.

But Speck said there is still room for many improvements.

He suggested adding parallel parking to Fruitville Road and narrowing lanes; shortening the light cycle at intersections down so pedestrians don't wait two minutes; and adding roundabouts along the North Trail — but not near downtown.

“We're sort of a city that's on steroids when it comes to roundabouts,” said Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown.

After a two-hour meeting Thursday with Speck and city staff, Brown is reconsidering a plan to add a roundabout at Main Street and Orange Avenue, and looking at Speck's idea of a four-way stop instead.

Brown said the city needs to take a step back and re-evaluate the best places to spend money, and potentially focus on Fruitville Road or easing the crossing from U.S. 41 to downtown.

He also said the city needs to look at increasing density downtown. The density debate — whether to allow more residential units in parts of downtown — has been a hot topic in the ongoing race for two city commissioner seats.

Downtown Sarasota is currently home to many large and expensive condominiums.

Speck's visit comes not long after entrepreneur Jesse Biter announced a plan to create smaller, less expensive apartments in the heart of the city.

At a “Walkable Cities” event Thursday, Sarasota resident Frank Brenner called Speck's visit part of a “campaign being waged” to permit those type of apartments to be built. He was concerned the change would simply add to traffic and congestion downtown.

Walking, bicycling and public transportation infrastructure needs to develop along with downtown residences to accommodate needs, Speck said, adding that he did not know about Biter's developments.

Chris Gallagher, who is on the city Planning Board, said he read “Walkable Cities” when it came out in the fall and decided to invite Speck to town.

Having an expert, who can provide statistics and real world analysis of how ideas being considered here have worked elsewhere raises the bar on conversations about the city's future, Gallagher said.

He said he sent an email to 50 Sarasotans advocating for the book after it came out.

City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo and Mayor Suzanne Atwell have both suggested it during public meetings, and Brown said he has told his city staff in the planning, finance and public works departments to read it.

For the city's new Economic Development Coordinator Norman Gollub — who the mayor has said will help lead the charge on making the city more financially sustainable and vibrant — Speck's visit was a “refresher course.”

Gollub wants to connect the colleges along the North Trail to downtown and increase the city's tax base by giving it an exciting core that draws potential employees and businesses.